Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Rising Price of Old-School


Classic video games: in my opinion the best games that have surfaced media. Then why are they so expensive if there over a decade old? That is what I’m prepared to answer.

Mario Brothers, Zelda and Donkey Kong are just a few of the game titles planted into mine and many others head over the past years. Missing the catchy theme songs and easy bosses, I decided to “visit the past” and buy myself a Super Nintendo over winter break.

Expecting that an inexpensive game system meant inexpensive games, I was soon bewildered by the outcome. I found that the Super Mario Brothers game I came to purchase at the pond shop was more expensive then the Super Nintendo itself! Twenty-two dollars to be exact.

Stunned, I decided to wait on the game and wait for a more reasonably priced one. I began to wonder why it is that you can only but these games at over-priced pond shops, and why they aren’t available in popular video game stores such as Game Crazy or Game Stop.

“People come in asking for old Nintendo games all the time,” said Phillip Kaiser, an employer of Game Crazy in Salem, when asked if many of their customers request such games.

I pondered the question “are classic video games so expensive because they are considered rare”? I would have to say so. Even though it is possible to find them, it does take a little bit of networking and patience to find reasonable priced ones.

When I asked Game Stop employer ,Jonathon Little ,why they don’t carry classic games he responded “it was a corporate decision, they said we don’t have near enough room for them.”

Enough room for them? Make your own judgement.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I didn't know about this. I had piles of old-school games from when my kids were growing up. I think we tossed them or gave them away. Who knew they would be selling for $20!